UK producers’ trade body Pact has published its new-look TV Exports report that shows UK televison exports hit £902m in 2016/17.

The report – produced in partnership with BBC Studios, ITV Studios and DIT – showed that sales to the US were £335m making it the UK’s largest export market.
 
Australia and France were the next largest markets (£73m and £60m) respectively, with France being the UK’s biggest non-English speaking market.
 
While finished TV programming was the largest source of revenue (£404m), streaming services such as Amazon and Netflix accounted for a quarter of sales in 2016/17 (£225m).
 
Information on genre was included in the report to provide more insight into which genres were top at driving sales. Entertainment was the best-selling genre as a whole, followed by Factual and Kids.
The most widely exported shows of 2016/17 included Planet Earth II, Sherlock and Midsomer Murders, while high production period dramas including Victoria and The Crown were also popular globally.
 
Commenting on the findings, Pact CEO John McVay said: “The new-look report shows that the UK continues to provide world class programming across a range of genres and indies are taking advantage of the opportunities that streaming services such as Amazon and Netflix have to offer.”
 
Paul Dempsey, President, Global Markets, BBC Studios said: “As the world’s biggest exporter of British television, from both the BBC and UK indies, we were encouraged to see good growth in 2016/17 on the back of strong global demand for British dramas from Sherlock and Luther to Silent Witness and Call the Midwife as well as our world leading entertainment, factual entertainment and natural history.”
 
Maria Kyriacou, President, ITV Studios International, said: “Given the pre-sales of ITV Studios’ forthcoming drama Vanity Fair and the ongoing popularity of our returnable scripted series such as Victoria and Poldark – as well as the current global buzz around our record-breaking smash hit format Love Island – we know there is an ongoing desire for UK content and the report’s figures amply demonstrate that.”

Staff Reporter

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